Thrust bearing



Sept. 29, 1931. T. w. GORDON 1,825,519

THRUST BEARING Filed Juge ff.' 195o Inventor: Theodorew Gordon, bg 09%,

His Atro'rvneg.

Entente@ A 29 fissare THEODORE 'W'. GORDN, 0F SCHENEGTADY, NEW YORK, ASSG-NGB T0 GENERAL ELEG- TBIC GQMPAN'Y, A. COBPTN OF NEW YORK THBUST BEABDIG maatregelen-June 7 raso. serial. m. ceases.

The present invention relates to machine bearings and more especially to bearings of the thrust type whereby heavy rotating parts are supported to turn about` a vertica ams.

. The advances in the present-day electricw of bearmgJs consists in maintaining a fluid film of lu ricating oil between the opposed rubbing surfaces so that they may not 'make metallic contact with each other` at any point, also that it is the viscosity of the lubricating oil that enables it to maintain it- 50 y It is impractical t0 make self in such a iuid film. Although the 1ubricating oil ma keep the rubbing metal surfaces out of rictional contact, it is impossible to avoid the vdevelopment of friction in a bearing since the -movement under filmproduces friction.

Where the bearing surfaces operate under heavy duty and at high speeds, the ,heat generated therein byfriction o crates to lessen or destroy the viscosity o the oil and to effect chemical changes therein accordinglto the time it is subjected to heat.

In order to prevent accumulation of heat in a bearing, 1t must be dissipated as generated' either by conduction through the metal of the bearing or by discharge of the oil films before they become much heated and in high speed machines the amount oi heat that can be dissipated by conduction through the metal parts is .relatively slight and accordingly free and early discharge of oil films must be depended upon to carry offY the greater -part of the heat tenraed.

e oa carry pressure between the molecules of the oil/ ing areas of the rubbing surfaces of a be'aring suciently small to provide for the necessary early discharge of the `cil films, since it is essential that such load-carrying areas be suiliciently large to enable the oil vd rawn in between them in the relative rota.- tion of the bearing members to build uppressure' films suiiicient to support the great weight' carried by the bearing. L

I have found, however, that by `mahng the load-carrying areas as small as permissible under the pressure lm requirements and delivering a full supply of fresh oil at low temperature to each of those areas, that fluid filmsv of the requisite value can be built up and discharged before the viscosity of the oil has become seriously lessened by the heat generated ltherein and the present invention is a practical apparatus embodying these principles.

tion, reference may be made to the accom- -panying drawings showing one embodiment thereof in which F ig. l is a vertical section of a thrust bearing'taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a top plan thereof with certain parts removed or broken away.

As shown in the drawings, the bearing is employed in connection. with a hydroelectric generator of the vertical type with its shaft l held centered by an ordinary guide bearing 2 secured to the upper frame or casing 3 of the generator.l The shaft 1 has i'xedly secured thereto a' radial ange 4 and the thrust bearing is interposed between the lower side thereofl and the upper :frame 3 to rotatably support the weight of the 'shaft 1 and the rotatablev parts of the generator carried thereby (not shown).

The bearing operates ina bath of oil contained in a reservoir made up of a circular bottom slab 5 with a central opening and designed to rest upon thetop of the generator casing about the shaft l, and held in adjacent the outer wall 8 of the oil well kis an annular stack of' radiator pipes 9 through 100 For a better understanding of my inven- 7.0

which cooling water or other fluid is adapted to be circulated. v

The bearing comprises a rigid base ring 10, yieldingly supported rubbing member 11 and a runner member 12 secured to the shaft flange 4. y

'.lhe base ring 10 is a rigid casting resting upon the bottom of the annular oil well and held in position by dowels 13. It 1s cored out in radial sectors to provide oil passages 14 between its top and bottom walls 1.5 and 16 and vertical oil passages li' extend 1n circular arrangement through the top wall 16.

The yieldingly sup orted rubbing member 11 is a flexible dis with its rubbing u pper surface babbitted and resting at. its lower surface upon a bed of helical springs 18 mounted on the top of the base r1ng 10. rlhe flexible disk may be in a single piece with circularly arranged oil passages similar to the passages 17V of the base ring or it may be composed of a plurality of concentric rings 19, 20 and 21 with oil spaces between them and each held in operative position by loose dowels 22 set in the top of the base ring.

The runner member 12, as shown, consists of a plurality of concentric rings 23, 2a and 25 with annular oil spaces 26 between them and each secured to the underside of the shaft ange i by dowels 2?. The intermediate and outer rings are provided in their upper sides with a plurality of radial oil passages 28.

The rubbing surfaces of the bearing are provided with eross oil grooves 29 which divide them into ioadearrying areas on which the fluid films are built up as the oil is dragged in freni the grooves'29 in the relative rotation of the two rubbing surfaces. ln order that the circular travel of the oil in a film, especially at the inner edges, may be sufficiently lengthy to .build up the necessary pressure to prevent the opm posed rubbing surfaces coming into metal lic contact at any point, l. divide the rubbing surfaces of the rings 19, 20 and 21 somewhat according to lengths of their diameters. As shown, the innermost has four radial oil grooves 29, the intermediate ring has eight and the other ring has sixteen.

As above set forth, the oil of a lm as it escapes from between the pressure-carrying areas is in a moderately heated condition and its viscosity correspondingly impaired and in order to insure that it be cooled and restored to its full lubricating value before it again enters between pressure-carrying areas, l provide annular defiecting dams 30 and 31 respectively attached to the outer peripheries of the bearing rings 19 and 2O which extend upwardly between the bearing rings 23, 24 and 25 where they lightly bear upon the inner peripheries of rings 24: and 25 while the inner peripheries of bearing rings 20 and 21 are spaced from the outer surfaces of the dams 30 and 31 to permit flow of fresh'oil outside thereof to the outer rubbing surfaces.

In operation of the bearing rotary movement of the runner member 12, by means of the centrifugal pumping action produced thereby, causes a circulation of the oil radially outward from the peri heries and oil grooves of the rubbing sur aces. 'Ehe oil discharged from between ring 23 and ring 19 is deflected by the dam 3() upwardly and is thrown out through the radial oil passages 28 in the other rings 24 and 25. The oil discharged from between ring 24 and ring 20 is likewise deflected by'dam 31 and thrown out through the oil passages in ring 25.

The oil is normally maintained in the oil well at substantiallythe level of the top of the radiator coil 9 and the oil as centrifugally discharged from the bearing flows over and through the coil 9 where it gives up its heat and thereafter flows back through the various passages to eventually be drawn into lubricating films" between the respective sets of mating rings and rings as indicated by the circulating arrows of F ig. 1.

It is evident that my invention maires it practicable to build continuous ring bearf ings with substantially unlimited rubbing areas without liability of heating unduly the lubricating oil `films at any point thereof, while at the same time every point of 'the rubbing areas operate eiiectively to bear its share of the load- What l claim as new desire to secure by Letters atent of the United States, is:

l. In a bearing, a plurality of concentrical ring cooperating members radially spaced,

and means interposed between said cooperating members for deiiecting radial flowing lubricant leaving the bearing surfaces of one set of cooperating members away from.

bearing surfaces of outer sets of cooperating rings.

2. ln a bearing comprising bearing surfaces defining a plurality oi annular concentrical cooperating rings, means interposed intermediate said rings for deflecting radial flowing lubricant away from the bearing surfaces of outer cooperating rings, and means for conducting said deflected lubricant out of said bearing.

3. A. bearing comprising a member rotating with -a shaft and provided with concentrical bearing surfaces, a stationary member provided with concentrical bearing surfaces in contact with said rotating concentrical bearing surfaces and receiving pressure therefrom, annular lubricant deilecting members interposed between said stationary concentrical bearing surfaces and extending between said rotating surfaces and said rotating member being provided with aper- Vsurfaces in the form o tures for centrifugally discharging the deilected lubricant.

4. In a bearing comprising cooperatin concentrical ring members radially space said concentrical ring members 4having oil grooves across the faces thereof, the spacing of said grooves decreasing as the dlstance from the axis increases, means' for deiecting radial flowing lubricant discharged from a. pair of cooperating bearing surfaces and means for conducting said discharged lubricant from said bearing.

5. In a thrust bearing having its bearing spaced concentrical rings, means intermediate the concentrical cooperating bearing surfaces for deflecting radially flowing lubricant leaving one set of cooperating bearing surfaces, means for carrying said deflected lubricant away from said bearing, and means for supplyin cool lubricant to the lubricant inlet side o said cooperating bearing surfaces.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my 'ha-nd this 6th day of June, 1930.

THEODORE W. GORDON. 

